


New Beginnings

by Guardian_Rex



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Gen, What-If, what if Kevin actually accepted Ben's offer of help in his first appearance?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:28:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28981884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_Rex/pseuds/Guardian_Rex
Summary: "What's in it for me?""People will like you, for starters."Kevin has a choice to make
Relationships: Ben Tennyson & Gwen Tennyson & Max Tennyson, Ben Tennyson & Kevin Levin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	New Beginnings

Ben extended a hand, an offer of peace and a place to be all in one, but he also held out the Watch and all the power it held.  _ People will like you more _ . Isn’t that why Kevin even bothered showing his powers to that gang, the reason he hung out with those stoners, the reason why he stole and cheated and learned how to mess with technology by messing with currents? To have someone like him? And yet something loud was telling him, yelling at him, to grab the watch and drain it like a sponge in the ocean. He was full, full on so much power that he’d grown even more arms than the alien he’d pulled the strength from had, and yet he was still  _ hungry _ for more.

Kevin looked Ben in the eyes with the three he had now - and god, wasn’t that weird, that he had 3 eyes now, why did he want more of this - and searched for any hint of deceit. Kevin had been played before, hard, and he’d learned how to tell when someone was lying to him to buy time - Ben’s watch had just timed out, and he couldn’t keep kicking Kevin’s ass if he had no juice. Ben was genuine, though, in that naive way that Kevin saw in kids who had the good cushy life. He actually thought that if he just asked, Kevin would come with him, and they’d get to stick together all summer.

Ben wasn’t the only vote though, not even the deciding vote  even though he could be . Turning around and looked through the buzzing haze in his head that was just like the time he’d stuck around the stoners for too long but  _ worse because this time it was a voice, one that he knew _ . Ben’s cousin and grandpa were looking at them, tense, worried. But not the way that Harvey looked at him with worry, fearing for themselves. Gwen was worried about her cousin, even though he could pick up a car and crush someone with it if they looked at him funny. The grandpa looked… sad, for some reason.

“If I say yes, and stop fighting, then I get to go with you guys like Ben said?” They both jumped at the sound of his voice - distorted and deep and  _ wrong _ and his vocal cords were  _ wrong _ and this was all  _ wrong _ \- and Gwen bristled at the idea, while the old man looked him in the eyes. They stared at each other for a long while, everything quiet even with the traffic freaking out overhead, and Kevin thought about all the crimes he’d commit, about all the stuff he broke, and how quickly breaking a  _ bench _ had gotten one guy put in jail. If Kevin got caught by cops, he wasn’t going to jail though, and both of them knew that.

“If you stand down, we can all get in the Rust Bucket and leave.” Well, there it was, a promise to keep him from the cops if he said yes, a bed, a regular shower,  **food** that wasn’t an electrical current. The old man could easily be lying, waiting for Kevin to let his guard down, for his power to wear off, and go old yeller on him while the naive kids were off playing something in some town. But  _ stars above _ , Kevin wanted this to be real.

Kevin turned around, looked at Ben’s outstretched hand, and then Ben’s face. “If this bites me in the ass, I bite back. All that sounds nice though. So sure.” He took the kid’s hand and shook it.


End file.
